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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The hotel of the Royal Lender of Seletat is a historical monument located at 4-6 rue Sainte-Barbe, in the Alsatian city of Seletat (Bas-Rhin). This building, in square plan with an entrance passage, dates mainly from the eighteenth century, although it retains older elements, like a Regency style cochère door. It is surmounted by the allied weapons of the Fels and Rebstock families, showing their connection to the building. The accidental fire of 1762 required immediate restoration, followed by possible expansion. During the Second World War, the carved vantals of the door, listed in the inventory of historical monuments, were destroyed despite their protection.

The house was associated with Bernard Joseph Fels, a doctor in physics and mayor of Séletat, who owned it between 1730 and 1740. Although the archives are contradictory about the exact date of construction, it would be in the first half of the eighteenth century, perhaps in the second quarter. The cochère, with its coronation, suggests that Fels was probably the sponsor. The building, registered since 1929 for its facade and roof, illustrates Alsatian civil architecture of modern era, mixing residential functions and symbols of power.

The available sources (Wikipedia, Monumentum) highlight the heritage importance of this building, despite the documentary gaps on its successive occupants. Its inscription in the title of historical monuments in 1929 specifically concerns the facade (including missing vantals) and the roof. Today, the royal lender's hotel remains a major architectural testimony of Séletat, reflecting both the royal influence in Alsace and the vicissitudes of its material history.

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